Minutes of Public Meeting - April 8, 2026

DATE: Wednesday, April 8, 2026

TIME: 12:30 PM

PLACE: Laurel Park, Tycoons Lounge

In accordance with § 3-302, General Provisions Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Maryland Racing Commission (“Commission” or “MRC”) met in person and by the Google Meet platform in open session at 12:30 p.m. at Laurel Park. Acting Chairman Konrad Wayson took a roll call of the Commission members and confirmed there was a quorum.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 11, 2026

The Commission waived a reading of the minutes of its meeting on February 11, 2026.  Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner Zavian seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

FAIR HILL RACING DATES REQUEST

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission he received a request for dates at Fair Hill from the Cecil County Breeders Fair in partnership with The Maryland Jockey Club. The racing dates requested were for Sunday, May 24, 2026, which would be for flat racing and Monday, May 25, 2026, which would be for jump racing. Post time would be at 1:00 PM for both days and the request also included pari-mutuel wagering that would be conducted inside and outside of the State. Commissioner Lillis asked how the purses would be funded. Bill Knuaf for The Maryland Jockey Club said Sundays races were going to be paid for by the Maryland Thoroughbred Trainers Organization and Monday’s races were going to be paid for by the National Steeplechase Association.

Hearing no further questions, Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the Fair Hill Races dates. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

THE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB PREAKNESS MEET AT LAUREL PARK

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission he received a race dates request from The Maryland Jockey Club for May 4, 2025 to June 30, 2026. The request consisted of 23 live racing dates with an additional 35 days of simulcast. Racing would be conducted on a Friday-Sunday basis with a post time of noon. The meet will be highlighted by the Black Eyed Susan stakes on Friday, May 15, 2026 and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Commissioner Zavian asked if these dates are relatively the same as they have been historically. Bill Knuaf of The Maryland Jockey Club indicated that these dates are similar to past requests by The Maryland Jockey Club.

Hearing no further questions, Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve The Maryland Jockey Club Preakness Meet at Laurel Park Race dates. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

STANDARDBRED RACE FUND ADVISORY COMMITTEE REQUEST

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that the Standardbred Race Fund Advisory Committee met on March 26, 2026. During the meeting, the Committee voted and approved the 2026 operating budget and approved a purse increase for the finals from $95,000 to $100,000. Mr. Merz indicated that the rise in operating cost was for additional marketing and promotion of the fund and a payroll and insurance increase. Mr. Merz asked the Commission to approve each item separately.

Hearing no questions, Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the Standardbred Race Fund Operating Budget for 2026. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the Standardbred Race Fund to increase the finals from $95,000 to $100,000. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

MARYLAND RACE FUND ADVISORY COMMITTEE REQUEST

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that the Maryland Race Fund Advisory Committee met on April 2, 2026. During the meeting, the committee approved three items. Item one was to use the $575,000 surplus from 2025 and backpay breeder and stallion bonuses for that year. Mr. Merz informed the Commission that the vote passed unanimously.

The second item discussed at the meeting was to increase the breeder and stallion bonuses during the Maryland dark period of racing from July 1-September 7, 2026. The bonus would be raised from $600,000 in 2025 to $750,000 in 2026. Mr. Merz noted this program had a lot of success and stakeholders were looking forward to taking advantage of this program again.

The last item discussed at the meeting was to maintain the administration fee of 9%. In a meeting in 2025 the Commission voted to raise the administration fee from 8% to 9% ending on March 31, 2026. The Committee voted unanimously to make the 9% fee permanent.

Mr. Merz advised the Commission that another item to be considered was the Out of State bonus program for owners and developers. Mr. Merz reminded the Commission this program was the same program they voted in favor of last year. The program in 2025 was worth $600,000 and for 2026 would be worth $700,000. Mr. Merz indicated that approval of this request would also approve the combined stake schedule of Maryland Bred/Sired and Virginia Bred/Sired horses. Mr. Merz asked the Commission to vote on these items individually.

Item 1: Approval of using the $575,000 surplus from 2025 to pay breeder and stallion bonuses for 2025. Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the $575,000 surplus to pay breeder and stallion bonuses for 2025. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Item 2: Approve the $750,000 breeder and stallion bonus program from 2026 during Maryland’s dark racing dates. Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the $750,000 breeder and stallion bonus for 2026. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Item 3: Approval of the administration fee to be maintained at 9%. Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve maintaining the 9% administration fee. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Item 4: Approval of the $700,000 out of state bonus for owners and developers and the out of state combined stake schedule for 2026. Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the out of state bonus and stake schedule for 2026. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Zavian seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF THE ARABIAN UAE PRESIDENT CUP AND TRAINER BONUS FOR PREAKNESS DAY

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission he received two requests from 1/st Racing. The first was a request to approve the Arabian UAE President Cup to be run on Preakness Day. Mr. Merz informed the Commission that this would be a conditional approval until a bill in the Maryland General Assembly passed to conduct the race at Laurel Park.

The second item was to approve the $150,000 Trainer Bonus for Preakness Weekend. Mr. Merz informed the Commission that this bonus is on its 10th year and helps attract additional horses from across the country to participate in Maryland on its biggest racing weekend. Mr. Merz asked the Commission to approve the item separately.

Hearing no questions, Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the Arabian UAE President Cup. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve 1/St Racing request for a $150,000 Trainer Bonus on Preakness weekend. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

OCEAN DOWNS CAITAL INVESTMENT PLAN 2026 AND RFRA REIMBURSEMENT FOR 2025

Executive Director Merz brought to the Commission’s attention two items to be voted on for Ocean Downs. The first item was the Ocean Downs Capital InvestmentPlan for 2026 and the RFRA reimbursement for work done in 2025. Mr. Merz noted that, for the Capital Investment Plan update, the Commission was just voting on the plan as a whole and not individual item. Mr. Merz then drew the Commission’s attention to the capital projects that were done in 2025 along with the audit that took place. Mr. Merz noted that there were two findings that adjusted the reimbursement requested.

Commissioner Zavian asked why the water towers needed to be replaced. Bobbi Jones, General Manager of Ocean Downs, told the Commission that the water towers were the original towers and were at their end of life.

Hearing no further discussion, Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve the Ocean Downs Capital Investment Plan for 2026. Commissioner Lillis made the motion. Commissioner West seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

Acting Chairman Wayson then asked for a motion to approve the RFRA Reimbursement to Ocean Downs for 2025 project completion. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

FINAL ADOPTION OF 09.10.03.09 EQUINE SPECIMEN TESTING

Executive Director Merz informed the Commission that rule 09.10.03.09 Equine Specimen Testing had gone through the public comment period of the regulation process and received no feedback from the public. Mr. Merz reminded the Commission that this ruled reclassified who could take specimen samples for the commission and technical changes. Mr. Merz also reminded the Commission that they moved the rule forward in a meeting in November.

Hearing no discussion Acting Chairman Wayson asked for a motion to approve finalize the Equine Specimen Testing language. Commissioner West made the motion, Commission Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

CLOVERLEAF UPDATE

Gina Maybee of the Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association gave a recent update on two all-women’s races that were conducted at Rosecroft called the Grit & Grace Races. While Ms. Maybee spoke replays of the races were shown. She went on to thank Lisa Watts of Rosecroft and said that this was the second year of running these races. Commissioner Zavian encouraged Ms. Maybee to find sponsorship for the races for 2027.

ROSECROFT RACEWAY UPDATE

Lisa Watts gave an update on Rosecroft Raceway. Ms. Watts told the Commission that Rosecroft was training a claiming series that would last through the month of April. They were encouraged by the 26 entries they had received for the series. Ms. Watts noted that the track suffered a five percent decrease in handle for the month of March and they would be racing on a Thursdays and Saturdays for the month of May.

THE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB UPDATE

Bill Knauf gave the Commission an update on the TMJC. Mr. Knauf reported that handle and field size has been down. He said that turf racing was coming back starting over the weekend. Mr. Knauf noted they were working well with the Department of Natural Resources and The Cecil County Breeders Fair to bring racing back to Fair Hill. He noted that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority would be holding a town hall on April 22 at Laurel Park.

Mike Rogers of 1/ST Racing came up to speak and noted that Preakness preparations were well on their way and they were working with local communities to make the best of the day. He noted that three horses so far had committed to the Preakness and that there was a hope a Japanese horse would also be contending. Commission Zavian asked about how they were marketing the event. Mr. Rogers noted that tickets were already sold out and that they were focused on getting people to bet the race card.

EQUINE MEDICAL DIRECTOR REPORT

Equine Medical Director Dr. Elizabeth Daniel gave her report. She informed the Commission that two training fatalities had occurred. One at the end of March and one at the very beginning of April. She noted that reviews of these fatalities would be done towards the end of April. Dr. Daniel also noted that Dr. Annie Renzentti had joined the veterinarian team and that she would be primarily based at harness tracks and would be filling in as needed at thoroughbred race days.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Anne Litz, Executive Director, Maryland Horse Industry Board, informed the audience that Farm Tours are back for the Preakness Festival program. The tours are free and will be held on Mother’s Day May 10, 2026, from 11:00 AM-3:00 PM

Mary Beth Kalinich, Friends of Pimlico, stated that with the issues Laurel Park has had, it should not be considered as the training center and instead the State should consider buying Sagamore Farms.

Commissioner Zavian stated that she is a panelist at the World Intellectual Property Day and asked if anyone from the horse industry wanted to be a panelist to show off any new items or inventions the racing industry was working on. It will be held in Washington DC on April 29.

Hearing no other comments,  Acting Chairman Wayson informed the public the next meeting would be on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. He asked for a motion to conclude the meeting. Commissioner West made the motion. Commissioner Lillis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

s/Konrad Wayson/s